A Beautiful New Species of Volute In the Genus Lyria From Taiwan

~
AN EDUCATIONAL
PUBLICATION
VOL. XXV NO. 11
ASHOWJUDGE'SLIFE
IS NOT AN EASY ONE
by ELMER G. LEEHMAN
and STUART LILLICO
OF THE HAWAIIAN
NOVEMBER,
1977
SOCIETY
NEW SERIES NO. 215
A Beautiful New Species of Volute
In the Genus Lyria From Taiwan
by CLIFTON S. WEAVER
It is always unpleasant to have to place a fellow
malacologist's new species into synonymy,
particularly if the name of the shell, as in this case,
honors a personal friend. This is the situation with
Dr. Tadashige Habe's Lyria kawamurai, named
for Ryosuke Kawamura of Tokyo.
Unless the rules of the International Commission on Zoological Names (ICZN) are adheredto,
however, there is nomenclatural chaos. I therefore find it necessary to give priority to an earlier
name-by one month only-Lyriataiwanica Lan,
1975. L. kawamurai Habe, 1975 is a junior
After any competitive shell show, you are almost sure to hear two complaints.
An exhibitor (a nonwinner, presumably) exclaims: "I'll never display my shells here again;
the judges simply didn't know their business."
In a nearby corner, a visiting malacologist confides to a friend: "I'll never judge here again;
some members don't know an aperture from a
dorsum."
What's wrong?
Mainly, it's post-show fatigue, of course. It has
been a tough couple of days. After a reasonable
interval, hard feelings fade. The club member
probably will be back next year with a hot new
display, and the judge will be looking forward to
another invitation from' 'my favorite shell club."
But the strain on a group - even though temporary - can be serious. The sight of a member
packing up his display and going home in cold
fury, after failing to get the award he thought he
deserved, can shatter a close-knit society. The
suddenflush on the face of ajudge after a soto voce
exchange with a committee member can destroy
the credibility of both judge and committee.
Are these things necessary? Certainly not. Are
they common? Yes, unfortunately.
Quite a bit has been written to assist competitors in preparing for shell shows. (To cite two
articles: Wes Thorsson's "Why Didn't I Receive
an Award?" HSN Aug. 1977and Twila Bratcher's
"Shell Shows - The Judge's View" HSN Jan.
1976.) The purpose of this article is to consider
what can be done to make life more beautiful for
the show judges.
If he is conscientious (and he must be or the
committee wouldn't have invited him), the judge
is under considerable strain at a big show. He
seeks to be even-handed, but he knows that the
eyes of every exhibitor are on him. He is expected
to recognize and evaluate literally thousands of
specimens that may well be outside his recent
experience. Particularly at some of the big Florida
shows, it is a wonder that the judges don't go out
of their minds!
Almost every club prepares some sort of guide
Cont'd on Page 12
MALACOLOGICAL
Ly;:;;k;;;;;~;;;~;~;"~
synonym.
The close timing of the two descriptions is
interesting. HMS member T. C. Lan published
his in the Bulletin of the Malacological Society of
China (Taiwan) dated November 1975,while Dr.
Habe's appeared in December of the sameyear in
the Bulletin of the National Museum of Japan.
(See Elmer Leehman's "Probing a Confusion of
Volute Nomenclature," USN Aug. 1977).
It seems odd that, with the constant flow of
information among scientific institutions today,
such a lapSIlScould take place. In any event, Dr.
Habe in a recent letter to me acknowledged that
the Lan name was published before his. I would
like to give to him the credit for relegating his Lyria
kawamurai to synonymy in this article.
Be that as it may, a beautiful new species has
been added to the Volutidae.
Although L. taiwanica does not appear from the
photo to have the sharply pointed curved spurlike
calcarella present in Lyria (Lyria) cloveriana
Weaver, 1%3 from Ceylon and L. (L.) lyraeformis
(Swainson, 1821) mentioned by Habe in his description of L. kawamurai, they are similar in other
respects: i.e., length, revolving lines, and densely
set longitudinal ribs reducing to the aperture.
I am indebted to both authors, incidentally, for
excellent colored photographs of their holotypes.
The new sPe.ciesmay have a wider range than
suspectedby Lan and Habe. Recently I received a
conspecific Lyria specimen from Victor Dan, of
Manila, an old friend. It was collected from deep
water by net off Panlao, Bohol, in the Central
Cont'd on Page 12
Page 2
~
HAWAIIAN
atetate:a",.
S Ieett
November. 1977
1teett4
ISSN 0017-8624
Editor Emeritus
Editor
Associate Editors
E. R. CROSS
STUART LILLICO
ELMER G. LEEHMAN,
OLIVE SCHOENBERG
Science Advisor
E. ALISON KAY
Science Consultant
W. O. CERNOHORSKY
Editorial Staff
George Campbell,
Lyman Higa, Scott Johnson,
Chris Takahashi, Cliff Weaver
Corresponding Editors:
K. J. Gilchrist, M.D., Fr. AI Lopez S.J.,
Rick Luther, William E. Old Jr.,
Peter van Pel, Thora Whitehead
HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL
SOCIETY
(Founded in 1941)
P. O. Box 10391
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
President
."'."'
'
ANDERSON BUTLER
Vice President '
"'."..
GEORGE COOK
Treasurer
WES THORSSON
Recording Secretary.
MARILYN ARNETTE
Corresponding Secretary
BUNNIE COOK
The Society meets the first Wednesday of
each month at the First United Methodist
Church, 1020 S. Beretania St., Honolulu at
7:30 p.m.
VISITORS WELCOME!
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Members outside the United States are
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HMS DUES FOR 1978
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Write
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information.
HMS OCTOBER MEETING
Wesley Thorsson, former HMS president, the
Society's current treasurer, and veteran world
traveller in search of shells , was the speaker at the
Society's October meeting in the Honolulu First
United Methodist Church. Attendance exceeded
125.
Thorsson told of a diving-shelling visit to San
Carlos, Sonora, Mexico with HMS fellow member Bob Purtymun in mid-1977. San Carlos faces
the Gulf of California and is a neighbor of betterknown Guaymas.
Diving in Sonoran waters is strikingly different
from the sameactivity in Hawaii, he reported, but
it is good. The two travellers brought back a variety of cones and olives to ponder and identify.
Their only untoward experience was a tangle with
stinging jellyfish on their first day at San Carlos
which left both somewhat shook.
.. I t is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a
taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire,"
A very apt remark, usually attributed to Robert
Louis Stevenson, Scottish born poet and writer of
adventure yarns, whose connection with Hawaii
and Samoa is warmly remembered, But was
Stevenson a shell collector? Where did he make
the above statement? A quick search of the
editor's reference shelf doesn't answer either
question,
How does it happen that no species was ever
named for this gifted traveller and spinner of
varns?
Reeve (species 30 plate vi).
.'However, I am convinced that (Walls')
specimens five, six and seven are not C. neptunus.
They probably are eitherC. australis Holten, 1802
or C. /atercu/atus Sowerby, 1870. It would be interesting to know whether these three specimens
have the consistent rose-color aperture."
Philippine Bonanza Continues
The bottom nets set out near Punta Engano in
the Central Philippines continue to produce rare
shells, according to reports reaching HSN
Associate Editor Elmer Leehman. Several more
specimens of Cypraea leucodon and C. valentia
have come up
George E. Radwin
Shell fanciers everywhere were shocked at the
news of the sudden death of George E. Radwin,
malacologist, writer and Curator of Molluscs at
the San Diego Museum of Natural History. He
was barely 37 at the time.
Radwin, born in Far Rockaway, N.Y., got his
Ph.D. from George Washington University in
1968.His molluscan research centered on the systematics of the Columbellidae and Muricidae, as
well as the ecology and zoogeography of marine
gastropods in general. He and Anthony D' Attillio
last year published Murex Shells of the World
(HSN March 1977).
Malacology has lost a well-liked and promising
scientist.
Isabelle Welch
A second recent death among well-known
malacologists was that of Isabelle Welch in August. A member of the Hawaiian Malacological
Society of several years' standing, as well as of
other shell clubs around the world, she was a
partner in The Shell Cabinet, a wide-ranging businesswith headquarters in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and had been responsible for publishing
recent editions of the International Directory of
Conchologists.
"She was kind, helpful, softspoken, a lovely
lady and a friend," notes the Newsletter of the
National Capital Shell Club, the organization with
which Ms. Welch had been particularly associated
recently. "She will be sincerely missed."
More on Conus neptunus
Jerry Walls' report on the rediscovery of Conus
neptunus Reeve, 1843(HSN Sept. 1977)rates two
cheers from HMS member Mike Filmer in Melbourne.
"1 recently saw four specimens in the Philippines and was able to acquire one of them," he
writes. .. All four (specimens) were identical to
figures three and four in Walls' article and they
conform with Conus neptunus as described in
-
mostly in poor condition,
how-
ever. Specimens ofC. rabaulensis have exceeded
20mm. C. hirasei and C. langfordi also have been
collected.
The netting appears to be most productive at
Sogod and Punta Engano, the Mactan area, and
off Bohol.
Shells
in College
HMS member Lula B. Siekman of St. Petersb~rg reports that she is teaching a class called
"Florida sea shells" at St. Petersburg Junior College.
"It is a noncredit course in the evening division,
from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday for eight weeks,"
she goes on. "I have forty in the class. We will
have a mini-show at the last session.
"The class is divided into fifteen minutes for
vocabulary, a thirty-minute lecture, a ten-minute
break, and an hour for showing shells using an
opaque projector.
"Giving such a class is very interesting, stimulating and challenging. I love every minute of it."
If I Could Keep One Shell. . .
Doug Shelton of Scottsboro, Alabama is one of
several HMS members who responded promptly
to the question: What shell would you grab for if
YQUcould keep only one?
..,
After looking over my collection very
thoroughly, I chose my sole specimen of Strombus
gigas Linne, 1758," he wrote. "Even though there
are others in my collection with a much higher
monetary value, I felt this shell was more important scientifically than any other.
"It was found near Charleston, South Carolina
in 1891.Itis not aGem specimen-far from it; it's
Good + - but it has the basic data and still retains
its color."
For another reaction to "There I stood. . .,"
turn to page II.
It's Renewal Time
If you haven't renewed your HMS membership
for 1978,do it at once. The Society's membership
year ends December 31. No renewal, no HSN.
November, 1977
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 3
Another occasion I note was in 1974, when
HMS member Mike McEvitt took his 26-foot
power boat up to Maalaea Bay from Honolulu,
and a group of us joined him for six days of diving.
The bay gave us some beautiful cowries, notably
C. tesseUataand C. chinensis. Stu Lillico, who was
making his first visit to Maalaea, remarked afterward at the bewildering maze of molluscan trails in
the silt bottom
-
"so many you can afford to be
choosey about which you investigate."
Late in 1975, John McFarland and I joined
Zadoc Brown for a couple of days. We found
Conus suturatrls, Fusinus undatus, Murex Jlitularill,
large helmets and some fine lobsters, but - and I
now recognize the significance of the change -
The Hawaiian island of Maui lies on Honolulu's
eastern horizon. It is famous for its scenic beauty,
its sugar plantations and its rural simplicity - and
in recent years for its booming tourist development.
On its southwestern coast is Maalaea Bay, a
broad indentation sheltered from the steady
northeast trade winds by IO,OOO-footHaleakala.
The bay for nearly a generation has been the secret mecca of shell collectors from Honolulu
whenever we could put together the special set of
conditions required to carry out a scuba dive there
(HSN Jan. 1975).
The bay's flat silty bottom, ranging in depth
from fifty to eighty feet, is punctuated with large
clumps of Montipora coral, cantilevering into
"elephant ears" and rising in huge "morning
glories." Clouds of colorful reef fish hover about
the coral; schools of large grey snappers range
nearby. More often than not a pair of long antennae signal the presence of a mammoth lobster usually attended by an equally mammoth moray
eel!
The plus factor for shellers has been that about
the coral were the largest, darkest and most perfectly formed Cypraeatalpa, C. leviathan, C. sulcidentata, C. chinensis and C. tessellatato be found
anywhere in the Hawaiian Islands.
Living in the silty bottom among the pen-shells
were colonies of spectacular white Maui spindles
(Fusinus undatus), "herds" of Conus quercinus
andC. pulicarius, and an occasiorial rareC. suturatus. Record-size C. textile, C. bandanus and C.
vexillum preyed upon the smaller cones. The
Conus leopardis were whoppers, one filling the
avera~e collector's shell bag.
Scattered profusely on the slightly rolling bottom were extra large Cassiscornuta with cameolike apertures. Many helmets in Hawaii have
"green-lip disease," but those from Maalaea were
noted for their perfection.
Terebra trails crisscrossed every bit of open
sand. There was a super-abundance of large dark
Terebra maculata, and dozens of other species.
In washtub-size masses of red coralline
Ectoproct algae were fine Cypraea gaskoini, and
red, purple and yellow Murex vitularia. Dredging
in shallow water frequently brought up rare Mitra
lamarckii and other uncommon miters, and an
occasional colorful Strombus helli.
I write the foregoing in the past tense because
there has been a strange change in Maalaea Bay
recently. The bottom life is dying. Not spectacularly, and not for any obvious reason - just vanishing! The fish are still there, although in less
abundance, but the molluscs, the coral and the
other invertebrates are suffering from a strange
blight. What has happened?
We don't really know. But the best guess is that
sewageand waste water from the recent' 'bloom"
of developments along the shoreline have thrown
the bay's ecology out of balance.
I have kept a log of my occasional divingshelling visits to Maalaea Bay in the past ten
years. It clearly documents the change.
Looking at my 1969entries, for example, I note
that Dr. Martin Redlich, Dorothy Wendt, Olive
Schoenberg, Dr. John Nesson and I found an
abundance of large cowries (the log stresses
"large") and a complete growth series of Fusinus
undatus. There is a special reference to the profusion of molluscan and marine life in the bav.
there was a conspicuous lack of cowries. From
that point, the curve has been consistently down.
In May 1976, on a memorable cruise, in the
schooner Machias (HSN Jan. 1977), all of us
noticed a reduction in the number of shells in
Maalaea Bay, with the exception of terebra. A
cruise two months later conflTffied the trend.
The full extent of the change was driven home
just a couple of months ago when HMS members
Olive Schoenberg, StuLillico, George Campbell,
Frank Baumholtz, Tom and Tetta Richert and I
were again diving Maalaea from Machias. We
immediately noticed the dearth of life , both on the
bottom and in the waters of the bay. Shells were
scarce. Algae grew from the bottom which used to
be bare. Fewer fish hovered around the coral
heads. Not a single lobster was taken.
We shifted anchorage again and again, thinking
the next spot would be the "old Maalaea," but we
never found a site that came up to expectations.
Even dredge hauls, which in the past had produced gems, yielded peanuts!
We began to question each other on what was
happening to Maalaea Bay. How did it go so
quickly? Was it sewage from the booming residential and resort developments along the shore?
Some obscure toxic chemical from the cane
fields? Silting after heavy rains? The symptoms
did not seem to match any of those classic causes
of ocean degradation.
We knew that the cause was not over-collecting
of shells. Maalaea Bay does not invite the casual
visitor. The water is always murky (unlike other
nearby areas). Few dive boats are available closer
than Lahaina, an hour or more away, and the
shallow bottom makes shore diving a chore.
Also, officially,
the bay rates high on the State's
shark list. I have never seen one there, but the
reputation impresses visitors. No, there simply
has not been enough collecting in the bay to account for the marked change in recent years.
Early in the 1"970sDr. E. Alison Kay at the
University of Hawaii, studying the ecology of
Maalaea Bay, discovered that this body of water
has virtually no currents below the surface. The
result is a marine habitat similar to that normallv
Page 4
found in much deeper water, accounting for the
unique biota.
Where does all this leave us? Nowhere, actually. Relatively few people are even aware of
Maalaea Bay, and fewer still know of its recent
deterioration. Among the latter, there is no concensus on the nature of the forces at work.
"When I began diving Maalaea Bay in 1960,"
mused Dr. Richert, "the bottom was rich. Now a
sedimentary slime is growing there which indicates some sort of contamination."
"Maalaea Bay had a rich biota, with many species of shells and bryozoans," remarked Dottie
Wendt, HMS board member and veteran
teacher of marine biology in Honolulu high
schools. "The pen-shell beds were full of molluscs
and associated fauna. The sand samples that I
regularly examined had extremely high concentrations offoraminifera. Tall red sponges were in
abundance. Today, it's all changed."
Hawaii-'bom Olive Schoenberg has been shelling and diving at Maalaea for years.
"The bottom (at Keawekapu, on the last
Machias cruise) looked as if a layer of mud and a
strange form of algae had covered the entire
area," she told me. "Shells were really scarce."
Scott Bowman, a non-collector diver and former president of the Hawaii Council of Diving
Clubs, wonders whether the bay's degradation is
the result of the leaching of household chemicals
and sewage from new shoreline developments.
"The Maalaea-Kihei area has an inadequate
community sewerage system," he points out.
"Each condominium and housing tract has its own
facility - and some are not much more than ~esspools. Detergents, bleaches, fertilizer and
contaminants in general quickly percolate through
that volcanic soil into Maalaea Bay."
The only ray of sunshine in all my discussions
was shed by Stan Jazwinski, a student in zoology
at the University of Hawaii.
"I have been making several dozen shore dives
there each year for the past couple of years pretty much in the same area - and I haven't
noticed any big change," Stan commented.
"Granted that all my experience there is recent.
But perhaps the fact that most of your observations were made on boat dives and from dredging introduces an element of chance that you don't
recognize."
Whatever the opinions, Dr. Richert is one of
several observers who feel that the reports of
scarcity should be taken seriously.
"These observations over a period of at least
fifteen years, however random the sampling,
show that important changes are taking place in
Maalaea Bay," he stressed. "It is imperative that
action be taken at once to prevent this unique
body of water going the way .of Kaneohe Bay."*
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
November, 1977
Neocancilla c/athrus Around the World
by RICHARD SALISBURY
A fairly common Indo-Pacific
mitrid,
NeocancilIaclathrus (Gmelin, 1791),would appear
to be somewhat more variable in appearance than
is generally recognized. Examination of the five
photos on this page will show what I mean.
Figure I is a typical specimen of N. clathrus.
This particular white shell with two brown bands
and a row of spots at the suture is from Guam.
Raised spiral ridges are cut by deep axial grooves,
creating a cancellate sculpture.
A specimen from Fiji is shown in Fig. 2. The
sculpture is identical, and the shell differs from the
Guamanian primarily by being lighter brown.
The Hawaiian form ofNeocancilla clathrus (Fig.
3) is quite distinctive and perhaps should be
considered a subspecies (N. clathrus emersoni
Pilsbry, 1921?). It differs from the standard N.
clathrus in several ways. It has raised narrow
spiral ribs colored with an interrupted brown
spiral line; the lower columella has a distinctive
pink tinge; and the shell lacks the cancellate sculpture typical of other clathrus, especially near the
center of the body whorl.
A quite distinctive form ofclathrus known asN.
crenifera Lamarck, 1811 (Fig. 4) is not found in
Hawaii or Guam. A much more finely sculptured
shell, it lacks noticably raised spiral ridges, but is
finely and evenly cancellate over the entire shell.
It is dark red-brown.
It would be interesting to know if the crenifera
fonn is found with the typical clathrus in other
parts of the Pacific. It has wide distribution, being
known from East Africa to New Guinea and the
Philippines.
Neocancilla pretiosa (Reeve, 1844) (Fig. 5) is a
smaller, narrower and less cancellate shell, limited to East Africa and the Red Sea. At one time
it was regarded as only a form of N. clathrus.
An Unusual Offering
RARE OLD SHELLBOOKS
Two bound volumes Sowerby "Thesaurus".
Five bound volumes Kiener.
Eight Kiener Monographs in Boards.
Write for full descriptions.
CARIBBEAN SPECIALISTS
Sendus your want list
Buy - Sell - Trade
-* An inlet on the Windward side of Oahu (Honolulu), once famous for its spectacular coral gardens, Kaneohe Bay in recent years has been degraded almost to extinction by sewage pollution,
soil run-off and over-development.
~---~
22762 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California 90265
Phone: (213) 456-2551
GEM QUALITY
-
WORLDWIDE
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
November, 1977
~O'~~~O'O'O'O'O'O'O'O'~O'~-
Page 5
~
Photo: Schipper
Cypraeaannulus, but small trochids, strombs and
by C. M. SCmpPER
nassarids are taken also. On two occasions I
WELLINGTON,
N.Z. - Conus marmoreus found pairs ofC. marmoreus sharing a meal!
Eggs are laid principally during the southern
Linne. 1758is well known in Western Samoa alwinter
(June, July and August), but I have found
though, as Bob Purtymun reported recently (HSN
eggs
as
early as May and as late as November. Egg
Sept. 1977),it is virtually unknown in neighboring
American Samoa. As Purtymun indicated, how- laying is often a communal affair, with as many as
ever, Western Samoa is most notable for its black six cones forming clusters of egg capsules.
On three occasions I found normal and black
form ofC. marmoreus.
forms
laying eggs under the same small piec~ of
The many pattern variations of this common
species have been described in the past as sepa- dead coral.
rate species. In Western Samoa, however, it is
possible to collect a complete series of intergrading forms from a relatively small area without
geographical barriers.
The existence of fifteen species of Strombus at
In Western Samoa the species generally is rare. Kwajalein has been pretty well established, alOnly in the Apia area, between Fagali'i and though one - S. aurisdianae - is represented so
Mulin'u, is it relatively common. Itis in this sector far by a single shell. Most species live in sand or
that it shows its remarkable variability.
rubble areas within the lagoon.
The normal "true" C. marmoreusis white with
I have not provided photos of these species
black reticulations, producing the well-known
because all, I believe, are well represented in the
tria~lar
spots. With this form the~e are occa- standard shell books.
sional "misprints," giving a smudged appearance
Strombusluhuanus Linne are the most common.
to some of the triangles. In such instances there is They occur in great numbers in the shallow subsometimes a bluish tinge, also.
tidal lagoon sand and rubble plains. Literally hunSome idea of the wide range of pattern and color
dreds can be seen on a short snorkeling trip off the
within this species is apparent in the shells I per- island of Kwajalein.
sonally collected in Western Samoa. The normal
Strombusgibberulus Linne vie with S. luhuanus
form can be seen (photo) to blend through C.
for number of specimens. These, too, occupy the
bandanus and C. nocturnus into the black C. nisubtidal sand flats, but they usually remain buried
grescensform.
during the day.
The difference is not a matter of age, as can be
Strombuslentiginosus Linne usually live on the
seenfrom a series of juveniles. In the earliest stage shallow lagoon sand flats, but an occasional
all forms are white. The apex of the spire remains specimen is found on dead coral rubble on lagoon
white.
pinnacles. Only rarely does this speciesbury itself
On the basis of the color patterns alone, I would
in sand.
say that all forms are merely variations of the
Strombus microurceus Kira have been found in
Western Samoan C. marmoreus.
limited numbers at Kwajalein, an extension of the
Beach collected shells are often white and previously known range of this small species.
chocolate-brown. Some appear to fit the descripStrombusmutabilis Swainson is a common intertion of C. deburghiae.
tidal and subtidal species. It occurs here in at least
In four years of collecting in Western Samoa I
three recognizable color forms.
accumulated much evidence favoring lumping all
Strombus maculatus Sowerby are not abundant
these supposedly separate species.
at Kwajalein but, like most strombids, inhabit the
Conus marmoreus is a dwarf form in Western
shallow subtidal lagoon sand flats.
Samoa. The largest specimen I know of is 62mm.
Strombus erythrinus Dillwin, while relatively
The longest black shell was 52mm.
rare, can be found in the deeper sand flats closer to
Except during the egg-laying season, all forms
the lagoon floor.
are found on shallow sand flats covered with small
Strombus haemostoma Sowerby are very rare
green weed. This area is rich in gastropods on
at Kwajalein. To my knowledge, only one live
which C. marmoreus feeds. A favorite food is
s~ecimen has been collected. This was dredged
I have the impression that adults leave the seaweed areas in the laying season and congregate
near rocks and dead coral. During this period. I
never found them feeding.
Eggs have hatched into veligers in my
aquarium, but I could not get them past this stage.
Rearing some adults from field-collected eggs
might provide us with interesting answers to some
of the questions that complicate our knowledgeor lack of it - regarding this interesting conus
complex.
Notes on the Shells Of Kwaj ialein Atoll
The Strornbidae II
by SCOTT JOHNSON
from shallow water at the north end of the atoll.
Several dead specimens have been found on the
beaches.
Strombusdentatus Linne are rather uncommon.
They usually are found in sand or coral rubble in
shallow water, most frequently on the lagoon pinnacles.
Strombusfragilis Roding are quite common in
coral and rubble areasof the lagoon pinnacles, but
are rarely found alive anywhere else. However,
many dead ones are washed in on the lagoonside
beaches, so they must live somewhere along the
interisland reefs, possibly among abundant algal
growths in this area.
Strombusvariabilis Swainson, known here from
very few living specimens, usually are collected
on the lagoon sand flats at night.
Strombus sinuatus Humphrey are uncommon,
but are sometimes seen on the interisland reefs in
sand or on pinnacles in sand or rubble.
Strombus taurus Reeve is one of the more unusual Kwajalein strombids. This species will be
discussed separately.
Strombuswilsoni Abbott has been reported from
Kwajalein. I do not know the conditions under
which it was found.
Strombusaurisdianae Linne is known at Kwajalein from one dead but definitely recognizable
specimen which I discovered on the oceanside
slope in twenty-five meters of water in 1973. Although its location and condition indicated that it
was not planted there as a joke, no additional
specimens have ever been collected, and its exislance at Kwajalein remains questionable.
(My thanks to Jane Colburn, a dedicated collector and former Kwajalein resident, now in
Florida, for information used in this article.)
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 6
November, 1977
The Other Shell Clubs
MIAMI
-
The South Florida Shell Club, es-
tablished in 1960,has changed its name. It's now
the Greater Miami Shell Club.
Many of us belong to more than one of the
fourteen south Florida clubs. When we attend
meetings, shell shows and conventions, we are
constantly being asked, "But where are you
from?" So the local members decided to get
Miami into our name.
"Greater" was added to make the suburbanites
feel close. Actually, we have members well outside the Miami area, both north and south.
The president of the Greater Miami Shell Club
is Robert L. Pace, a young and enthusiastic
diver-collector and boat owner. He is serving his
second term.
Our ten-page monthly educational and information publication has been known as the Mollusk
Chaserfor fourteen years. Recently we decided to
dignify it by dropping the word "chaser." The old
name was hard to say out loud and, as Tucker
Abbott once remarked, folks tended to think of it
as a drink during a seafood dinner!
Two students, George Fraga and Marc Grad,
are the editors, assisted by Fran Wright whose
son, Scott, is a junior member of our club. Mrs.
Wright is a former Honolulu resident, well known
to Hawaiian Shell Newsreaders. We mail The Mollusk to 391 members and fourteen other shell
clubs, according to a recent count.
The Greater Miami Shell Club could count
twenty-four of its members at work at or attending
the American Malacological Union meeting in
Naples last July. Margaret Jones, Therese L.
Marsh and Lucia E. King were among the faithful
who continually manned the AMU information
table.
Our Fran Hutchings Thorpe and Archie L.
Jones were responsible for a very successful
liguus watching and collecting field trip attended
by fifty AMU conferees. At the banquet, each of
about 200 diners received two plastic boxes, each
containing a beautiful specimen of the Florida tree
snail, Liguus fasciatus Muller. Financed by our
club, the work of collecting (from donors), boxing
and labelling was all done by Fran and Archie.
The Greater Miami Shell Club meets the fourth
Wednesday evening of each month in the auditorium of the University of Miami Marine Lab
on Virginia Key. Visitors are always welcome.
The Greater Miami club's sixteenth annual
shell show will be at Planet Ocean on Virginia
Key, 27 to 29January, 1978.Anyone interested in
exhibiting can contact our Shell Show chairman,
Ben J. Culverhouse, 10620 S.W. 93d Street,
Miami, FL 33176.
While on the subject of Florida clubs, let me
point out that the Broward Shell Club meets in the
Pompano [Beach] Recreational Center on the
second Wednesday evening of each month. Broward, too, has dignified its monthly publication,
the Busycon Bugle, by dropping "bugle."
Corinne E. Edwards
Conus cingula/us
Lamarck,/8/0
Photo: Chapman
This small, moderately rare Conus cingulatus
Lamarck, 1810,trawled in the Indian Ocean, is a
close relative of C. aculeiformis Reeve, 1844. It
differs, however, in the spire area. In addition, it is
heavier.
The specimen figured here was trawled off
Ramaswaran, South India by Phiroz Sukherwala
of Bombay.
E.G.L.
A WORLD RECORD?
A full-color reproduction of one of the color
plates in Kiener's monograph on the Volutidae is
the Society's holiday present to members everywhere. It represents Voluta (Cymbiola) imperialis
Lightfoot, 1786(although note that Kiener listed
Lamarck as the author).
Cymbiola imperialis is a fairly common species,
found principally in the Philippines. Its length
ranges to ten inches or more.
Kiener's monograph was published serially
about 150 years ago. As was customary, the picture was engraved manually on a copper plate;
colors were applied by hand after printing.
Blemishes on the reproduction reflect deterioration of the original book, which is in the personal
library of E. R. Crossof Honolulu, former HMS
presidentand longtimeeditor of HSN.
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and photographs by AIR MAIL add U.S. $2.
Five good reasons to write us.
Typhis
gra/ldis
A. Ada/1ls.
1855
Photo: Kerstitch
This specimen of Typhis grandis A. Adams,
1855 measures 39.5mm and is believed to be a
world record. It was live-taken off Isla Blanca,
Sonora, Mexico, in 1976by Alex Kerstitch, who
found it among rubble in fifty feet of water.
YEA DER ENTERPRISE CO.,
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Retail and Wholesale
A WHOPPER
Rare Australian Murex
Photo: Chapman
With little argument, Strombus goliath
Schroeter, 1804 from Brazil is one of the most
ponderous shells in any collection. Its weight
makes it expensive to ship. In addition, it is rarely
found in good condition. Normally it is encrusted
with lime and pocked with worm ~oles, even
though live-taken.
The figured specimen was collected by HMS
member Manuel de Sousa e Silva off Santos,
Brazil late in 1976. Its length exceeds fourteen
inches. I don't have its actual weight; it is, however, surprisingly heavy.
For the first time in a decade or more, these
aptly named giants are being collected and offered
by dealers.
Elmer G. Leehman
PERSONAL AD
For sale: GEM live-taken Cypraeaostergaardi.
Dr. Bernard Stanfield, Box 20, 97th General
Hospital, APO New York 09757.
GOODIES
FROMA BAGOFSAWDUST
PLEASANTON,
Calif. - During the past
My Western Australia diver-collectorfriend,
A. J. (Tony) Gabelish,while dredgingwith his several years I have had little time to clean and
boat in fifty fathoms near Adelaide, recently catalogue the shells I was collecting. Most of them
brought up his secondgem specimenof the ex- were simply dropped into plastic bags of sawdust
tremely rare Murex (Haustellum) wilsoni D' Attilio
& Old, 1973. This shell measures 79 by 34mm.
The operculum was saved.
Color ranges from dark chocolate brown at the
anterior extremity to a white spire. Aperture is
white, and there are numerous white spots on the
brown body.
Elmer G. Leehman
Strombus
gigasSchroeter,
1804
Page7
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
November. 1977
(which stifled the smell). A date and dive number
on each bag leads me back to my dive log.
Recently, I opened a bag marked May 19, 1976,
Dive #1. My log revealed that these shells were
collected in Maalaea Bay, (see USN Jan. 1977),
from about twenty meters of water in pen-shell
beds with scattered sand patches. Among the
numerous sand shells were eight species of Mitra:
M. ferruginea Lamarck, 1811, and M. fulvescens
Broderip, 1836, both crabbed, plus a small dead
Pterygia crenulata (Gmelin, 1791).The live shells
were Cancilla granatina (Lamarck,
1811),
Subcancilla interlirata (Reeve, 1844), Vexillum
modestum (Reeve, 1844), V.
acupictum (Reeve, 1844) and
a Pterygia species (Fig. I)
which I cannot identify.
Nothing unusual about
these shells, except the last
two. Len Hill's excellent
article on Hawaiian (Oahu)
miters (USN Feb. 1976)does
not list Vexillum acupictum,
(Fig. 2) and I had not collected it before, so I am
happy to add that one to my
collection.
-The texture of the Pterygia species is beadlike
and not flat as in P. crenulata. It was not an uncommon shell to us aboard Machias. Many more
were hauled up in the dredge later that day. I think
that everyone aboard got a specimen. Perhaps
someone has found a name for it by now.
Bob Purtymun
Hauste//um wilsani V'A & 0, 1973
Photo: Chapman
B. M. Collection
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the MORRISON GALLERIES, inc.
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Page 8
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Speaking of Books:
THREEONTHEBEACH
THE BEACHES OF O' AHU, by John R. K.
Clark. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. 1977.185pp.+ bibliography and index. $4.95
paper.
During his several years as a Honolulu lifeguard, John Clark started to write a water-safety
guide for the swimmers, surfers and divers that he
so often had to rescue from the turbulent Pacific.
In time, his project developed into a much more
comprehensive - and fascinating- guide to all
the public beaches on the island of Oahu (Honolulu). The result is a volume that must stand
among the best writing on Hawaii's shoreline.
Concisely, but with the best of humor, Clark
describes each stretch of beach (he lists more than
150 of them), explains problems of access, pinpoints the delights ("safe all year; shallow inshore
reef with occasional sand pockets for swimming")
and the dangers ("unpredictable and unsafe all
year; dangerous rip currents at mouth of cove"),
and gives the location of the nearest lifeguard,
emergency telephone and hospital.
Then comes a delightful narrative section in
which the surfer-turned-author probes the history
and geography of the beach and its neighborhood.
Its place in Hawaiian legend and the significance
of its place names are explained. Events of a few
decadesago are cited ("During World War II, the
park was headquarters for the U.S. Army's
extensive jungle warfare training program; the
temporary buildings left when the war ended were
completely demolished by the tsunami of April 1,
1946"). And there is a world of intimate detail of
the surfers, fishermen and snorkellers who make
the beaches of Hawaii such human institutions.
Only once or twice does Clark actually mention
shells. This in itself is no great loss; shell populations come and go unpredictably. But the active
sheller will find Clark's book invaluable. Having
picked his spot, he can learn all about its peculiarities in advance.
Everyone who goes near the water in Hawaii,
whether Mainland visitor or kamaaina resident,
should be required to read Clark's introductory
"General Information." It is sobering, but extremely informative on the power of the Hawaiian
surf.
S.L.
THE BIOLOGY OF OPIHI, by E. Alison
Kay and William Magruder, University of Hawaii. Honolulu; State of Hawaii, Department
of Planning and Economic Development. 1977.
42 PP.
Hawaii has four endemic speciesof limpets, two
of which (Cellana exarta and C, sandwicensis)are a
runaway favorite food - raw. The commercial
catch of opihi in 1905 was estimated at 150,000
pounds. These days, barely 18,000pounds reach
the market. And all Hawaii is worried.
November, 1977
Dr. E. Alison Kay, HSN Science Advisor and,
in 1973,head of the general science department of
the University of Hawaii, was asked by the state
government to do a study of the dwindling opihi
stocks and to recommend countermeasures. The
present volume is the product of four years of
clambering over surf-drenched, algae-covered
shores, plus sound scientific investigation.
Dr. Kay and her assistant, William Magruder,
don't exactly say what to do to expand the supply;
that is an administrative and political matter, they
feel. But they found that overcollecting is largely
responsible for the scarcity, rather than pollution,
or weather changesor a dearth of"opihi pickers,"
as many had insisted. The remedy is easily available.
The study itself may well have been the first to
look at the limpet as a source of human food. Opihi
are a source of high quality protein, vitamins A
and D, phosphorus, and iron.
"Opihi, because of their rapid growth rates,
may be a useful source of an annual crop of protein
from primary production - that is, they convert
(seaweed) directly into protein," the two scientists write. They suggest consideration of
Hawaii's two edible limpets as subjects for aquaculture experiments.
Quite properly, the report has lots of graphs and
tables, but it is good reading, too. There is something kind of appealing about a report that admits shell-size measurements may not be precise
"because much of our work was done in situ and
our measuring activities were often interrupted by
I"
waves.
S.L .
SHELLS AND SHORES OF TEXAS, by
Jean Andrews. Foreword by William J. Clench.
Austin: University of Texas Press. 1977.327 pp.
+ glossary and bibliography. $19.95 ($24.95 after
1 Jan. 1978).
The University of Texas Press has published a
perfect jewel ofa book, the kind every shell collector must wish that his own university press would
produce. Shells and Shores of Texas covers not
only the molluscs of that huge state, but goes into
the history and ecology of the entire coastline.
Well illustrated, beautifully printed, and handsomely bound, the whole is a pleasure to see and
to use.
Dr. Jean Andrews is not primarily a biologist.
She received her Ph.D. in art, but has become an
expert in malacology through independent study.
She published the forerunner to the present volume in 1971.
In contrast with many other writers on shells,
Dr. Andrews has a finite subject. She notes that
only 400 to 600 species are known to live in the
bays and shore waters of Texas. A few more than
325 are figured and discussed. Many are in the
"micro" category. You feel that the author has
missed very little as she combed the beaches of
Texas.
Her style is easy, and the format is helpful.
Conus
argil/aceus
Perry.1811
Photo: Chapman
Known by a variety of synonyms, Conus argillaceus Perry, 1811 is a rare cone occasionally
trawled in the Aden area, near the mouth of the
Red Sea. The gem specimen figured above is from
the collection of Dr. Dieter Rockel, of Darmstadt, Germany.
The shell is often called C. splendidulus
Sowerby, 1833or C. lucri/us Reeve, 1848- both
junior synonyms.
E.G.L.
Figures share the page with the text.
Shell collecting in Texas has its hardships, Dr.
Andrews suggests in a footnote.
"During the ten-year period in which I worked
on the material for the first edition of this book,"
she wrote, "three major hurricanes struck the
Texas coast. The first two had a marked effect on
marine life; the last (Celia) primarily affected man
and his structures.
"Finding myself alone in my home on that
afternoon with the edited copy of the manuscript
and the only carbon copy, I became frantic looking for a way to protect them. As my windows
broke and water poured through the ceiling, I tried
to recall scenes of other disasters. The vision I
conjured up as my home shook and leaked was of
fallen walls with a lone refrigerator standing in
their midst.
"In haste I pulled the contents from my refrigerator and replaced them with the manuscript and
its copy. There they remained until I remembered
them several days later. When the door was
opened the light did not come on as usual, but the
papers were dry and safe. That is quite a bit more
than I could say about the rest of my home."
OK, you shell writers. Match that one!
S.L.
November, 1977
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
.
All photos: Board
by PETER W. BOARD
DAMPIER.. W.A. -
Centered at approxi-
mately 115032' East, 20025' South and about
seventy miles off the coast of northwest Australia
lies a small group of uninhabited islands called the
Monte Bellos. They are low sandy islands of limestone origin, sparsely covered with saltbush and
spinifex, and surrounded by reefs and shoals that
are a nightmare to navigate in anything but the
smallest boat - a shell collector's dream come
true.
In 1956I visited these islands in H.M.S. Consort. We were engaged upon weather tracking
duties connected with the then-current AngloAustralian nuclear tests being conducted upon the
island of Trimouille, second largest of the group.
My interest in shells at that time was limited to
the field ofbalijstics. What an opportunity I missed.
In 1972, long after leaving the Royal Navy, I
moved my home from the southwest of England to
northwestern Australia and came to live in the
new iron-ore port of Dampier, in the Dampier
Archipelago only eighty miles from the Monte
Bello islands. Through my work at Dampier I
became acquainted with Bill Currey, a former
skydiving instructor who swapped his 'chute' for a
'lung' and is now a well-known diver and shell
collector. With a common interest in the sea, our
families became friends, and my interest in shells
was thoroughly aroused.
My diving experience began in 1954 in the
Royal Navy's submarine escape simulator at
Portsmouth. In the following years, until my arrival in Australia, I dived around the Mediterranean
from Gibraltar to Turkey and in the cold Atlantic
which sweeps the shores of my native Devonshire. But diving in the Indian Ocean is really
something else.
Bill and I spend most of our spare time diving
and shelling around the reefs and island sand bars
of Dampier Archipelago. Our success up to 1976
whetted our appetites, so we turned our attention
to the Monte Bello islands.
Preparations for the trip were complicated,
eventually involving six divers and three boatsBill and I in my twenty-foot cabin launch, Trevor
and Dennis in Trevor's nineteen-foot Pride, and
Frank and Bob in Frank's eighteen-foot runabout.
Because of the extreme remoteness of the area
and total lack of facilities we had to provide
enough fuel for a 200-mile round trip and a week of
running about the islands.
We chartered a six-seater Cessna aircraft to do
an aerial survey of the tiny group and associated
reefs including the notorious Tryal Rocks, twin
pinnacles of sudden death for unwary navigators
and the site of our most hair-raising experience a
few weeks hence.
From our aerial vantage point we were a little
dismayed at the sharks visible in the clear water.
We counted thirteen in one small bay. These great
predators provided great sport for Frank and Bob
who are more interested in fish than shells.
With final preparations completed, we left
Dampier at 0200on Sunday, May 9, in calm conditions, heading for Barrow island where we had
arranged for our spare fuel to be dumped on the
beach by a commercial fisherman. My boat was
heavily laden with supplies and diving gear, and
was the slowest of the three. But after carefully
redistributing the load our little convoy settled to a
steady 22 knots.
We cleared North West reef, the western limit
of the Dampier Archipelago, at 0300 with a
southwesterly wind rising. Within an hour we
were wallowing in heavy seas and taking a lot of
water. Bill spent most of the next three hours
pumping out the bilges while I battled to keep us
on course.
But our problems were nothing compared to
Trevor's. His anchor had come adrift in its stowage on the foredeck. Dennis went forward to secure it. On his return to the safety of the cabin he
Page 9
lost his footing and fell overboard. Trevor quickly
throttled back and Dennis flopped back over the
side with the next wave, shaken and wet but
otherwise unharmed. This was the first of two
hairy experiences for Dennis and Trevor, the second almost resulting in the loss of their boat.
We finally reached our camp site (left) on
Hermite Island at 1200after refuelling at Barrow
island. The rest of Sunday was spent in setting up
camp and exploring our immediate surroundings.
Our camp was situated in a small bay on the western side of the island and was well sheltered from
all directions, being only about two miles from the
western reef.
The area between the reef and the island was a
shallow water wonderland of coral and acres of
sand where we found many of the large baler
shells, Melo amphora.
During spring low tides many of the bays and
sand bars become exposed producing a wide
range of volutes, olives and miters, notably Amoria macandrewii, A. praetexta, A. dampieria, and
A. greyi. Since our visit coincided with neap tides,
we confined our activities to diving on the reef
areas, and with very good results.
We made our first dive on Monday morning,
using the two biggest boats which allowed two
divers to be in the water with one man in attendance at all times. This arrangement worked very
well and we maintained it throughout the week.
We chose a spot near the outer reef edge where
we had seen some deep gutters during our survey
flight and anchored in ten meters close to the surf
line. Bill aQdI were first in the water and we soon
began to find shells.
Within a few minutes of reaching the bottom I
turned a small rock and found a beautiful Cypraea
argus. Almost immediately a pair of large Lambis
(Harpago) chiragra came into view across a sandy
bottomed gully. During our week on the islands
we found these shells on every dive and were able
Top, I to r, Conus vexillum, C. aulicus, C. textile.
Bottom, C. striatus,C. geographus,
C. miles.
Page 10
to be very selective.
The reef sloped gradually down to fourteen
meters, providing a wide variety of habitats. It
proved to be excellent cone country. During that
first dive I found a fine specimen of Conus vexilturn. Bill got a really magnificent Conusaulicus. It
was 13centimeters long and was undoubtedly the
best find of the week.
When we surfaced, Trevor and Dennis amazed
us by producing two more aulicus specimensfrom
inside their wetsuits where they had put them for
"safety." They believed they had found someunusual volutes. That evening, as we sat around
our camp fire dining on crayfish and coral trout,
Bill gave us a crash course in shell recognition and
warned about the dangers of handling live cones.
The sky was overcast and the seaoily calm next
day. We made an early start and headed for the
awesome Tryal rocks, eight miles north of the
Monte Bellos. These twin pinnacles of rock rise to
the surface from a little over ~ixty feet and are a
notorious shipping hazard. They are subject to
heavy tide rips and sudden great upheavals of
water. Even on a calm day there is a great deal of
disturbance in the vicinity of the rocks.
We anchored as close as we dared. Bill and I
went over the side into water as clear as gin, to
discover a piscean wonderland. A glance around
was like flicking through the pagesof a color illustrated fish encyclopedia.
The business of searching for shells was made
extremely difficult by the strong tide and heavy
surge. Holding our masks in place with one hand,
we found ourselves being sucked from ledges and
pinned against rock walls. Dennis found a rock
ledge with three fine tiger cowries on it - the only
shells we found. After half an hour of tiring effort
we were glad to get back in the boat.
We decided to investigate the other tooth. Trevor went ahead of us and was already anchored
close as we approached. S,uddenly,without warn-
HAWAIIAN
November, 1977
SHELL NEWS
Lambis chiragra
ing, a great mound of water about forty feet high
rose ahead of us, Foamy flecks tumbled across its
peak as it began to crest, I shoved the throttle
forward and hauled the wheel over to port in time
to dodge along its shoulder. But Trevor was anchored right in its path. We saw Dennis on the
foredeck, anxiously looking over his shoulder as
he tried to raise the anchor. The great wave lifted
the little boat to its peak and crested. Our hearts
were in our mouths as we watched our companions rise up the face of that wall of water. After
an awful moment, however, we saw them floating
safely in the calm water of the trough. We had fully
expected to be salvaging the pieces on the other
side of the rocks.
Chastened, we headed back to the reef just a
few miles from our campsite. In camp that night
we all agreed we experienced some very basic
feelings in the pits of our stomachs at the sight of
that awful wave.
We had heard reports from commercial fisher-
men about the large number of tiger sharks in the
Monte Bello area and we had seen a lot of them
from the air, so we fully expected to have to contend with them on every dive. But, in fact, they
gave us little trouble. Only once did anyone have
to leave the water on account of them. This was on
the last day when Bill and Frank were obliged to
retreat to the boat becauseof the persistent attentions of a big tiger.
Frank and Bob were more interested in fishing
than shelling and each night they laid heavy set
lines outside the entrance to our little bay. On two
occasions they found tiger sharks had taken their
bait. They each got a pair of shark jaw trophies big
enough to fit right over their shoulders (below).
Throughout the week we spent an average of
over four hours per day per diver under water and
finished the week with a fine selection of shells.
Bill and I each got a good specimen of Tutufa bubo
on the samedive and we also took good specimens
of Conustextile, C. geographus,C.lividus, C. vexillum, C. glans, and C. terebra. I found one Bursa
ro,\'a and Bill got another small Bursa species
which has so far defied identification. Other good
finds included Cypraea isabella, C. cribraria, C.
caurica, C. lynx, Ovula ovum, Pyreneturturina and
many of the more common speciesfound along the
northwest coast of Western Australia.
We made the return journey to Dampier in perfect conditions in less than four hours, carrying
with us memories of an unspoiled area that must
be one of the most prolific shell producing localities in Australia.
Celebrating a decade in shells
mstlalian
S~fElLS
Importers/Exporters of Quality Sea Shells
Fine shells from around the world specialising in those endemic
to the Western Australian Coast -Cypraea roseUi,ameniaca, Voluta nodiplicata. Also rare Harpa while they last - cos/ata, doris,
wilsoni, exquisita, etc.
Send for price list: Free by sea: A$2 by air.
Box T1738, G.P.O. Perth 6001
Western Australian
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PLANNING TO MOVE?
Advise the Society as early as possible, to
reduce postage costs and avoid delay in delivery
of Hawaiian Shell News.
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THE HAWAIIAN
MOLLUSK
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Phone395-3581
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"p""""""'"
""" """".
Specimens sold recently include Co"us
adamso"i, dusa..eli; Cypraea broderipii, vale".
tia; Murex loebbeckei,phyllopterus and many
others. Free price list on request
Special attention given to your want lists.
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
November, 1977
Page 11
NEWS OF NEW SPECIES
SHELLS FORSALE
La Conchiglia, the Italian shelling magazine,
has published descriptions of nine new species
and subspecies within the last year. These fulfill
the necessary criteria for valid descriptions (publication of a name, description, and comparison)
and must be considered in all later studies of the
genera involved. Publication of new names in a
hobby publication is frowned upon, however.
SOURCE FOR RED SEA SPECIMEN
AND COMMERCIAL SHELLS
DOV PELED
Hazalafirn 6, Haifa, 34-739, Israel
Buys, sellsand exchangesshells.Price list on
request.
-
~errys
SHELL SHELTER
WORLD
WIDE
SHELLS
Specimen Quality
Unique Items and Jewelry Related to the Sea
NO LISTS
PLEASE SEND FOR WANTS
119 E.Commonwealth
Ave., Fullerton, CA92632 USA
TELEPHONE: 714-992-1030
-
VISIT US- WE'RE UNIQUE
We need all kinds of shells, from craft material to specimens. State price and quantity. In
case of specimens, please clarify size and grade.
Weare source of rare Japanese shells, crafts and
shell materials of all kinds.
The Fujisawa Trading Co.
P. O. Box 5, Fujisawa,Kanagawa,Japan
No. 89/90, July-Aug. 1976. Nordsieck, "The
genus Chauvetia Monterosato 1884 in the European seas," pages 3-7 (illustrated), described
Chauvetia ventrosa (family Buccinidae) from
Paros, coIl. Melanitis, Athens.
No. 93/94, Nov.-Dec. 1976. Nordsieck, "The
genusBittium Leach, 1847in the European seas,"
pages 6-9 (illustrated), described Bittium depauperatum maximum (from Teneriffe, Canaries,
Lus., Ibiza) , Bittium jadertinum antonium (from
Ibiza, Rhodos), and Bittium lacteum lusitanicum
(from Tenecriffe, Lus. sea), all in the Cerithiidae.
No. 95/96, Jan.-Feb. 1977. Romagna-Manoja,
"Family Strombidae. Part IV: Genus Tibia,
Roeding 1798," pages 3-13 (illustrated), has described Tibia delicatula nanD as a new subspecies
from the Gulf of Siam (Thailand). This is the small
form of the species that has recently entered the
American market; it is almost certainly not a valid
subspecies in the usual sense, and the name
should be used cautiously (See HSN Aug. 1977).
In the same issue, Jonklass and Nicolay, "Cypraea lentiginosa Gray, 1825 (considerations on
its range and variability)," page 16 (illustrated),
broke Cypraealentiginosainto three subspecies:C.
1.lentiginosaover most of the range, C.I. dancalica
new subsp. from the Red Sea area, and C. I.
buhariensis new subsp. from southern India.
These names are validly proposed and certainly as
meaningful as most subspecific cowry names, so
they will probably soon appear on dealers' lists.
No. 101, July-Aug. 1977. Angioy and Biraghi,
"A new volutid species from Indonesia," pages
7-8 (illustrated), describe a new volute, Cymbiola
(AuUca) marispuma (Cikanjang, Western Java,
Indonesia) from several specimens. It is said to be
closely related to C. rutila.
In the sameissue Nordsieck," A new speciesof
Bittium in the Mediterrean (sic)," pages 14-15
(illustrated), described Bittium (Scabrobittium)
atticum (Saronicos, Attica) as a new species from
Greece.
Welcome to Hawaii!
HMS members visiting Hawaii are invited to
contact the Society while in Honolulu. Please
keep in mind, however, that the Society office is
open only two days a week, and that it does not
have a telephone. Society officers are listed individually in the telephone book. Ifin doubt, ask the
Waikiki Aquarium for names. Better still, write
the Society in advance.
In addition to the validly proposed names listed
above, several varietal or form names are proposed by various authors; these are not valid
under the present rules and should not be used in
the literature. One Chicoreus species from Western Australia, named in a tentative fashion, is also
not allowed under the present rules; the name
should not be used even if it does appear on dealers'lists.
Jerry Walls
-~-~~'"'"""'-~--,-~-,
COWRIES FROM TAIWAN
Two beautiful specimens of Cypraea hirasei
Roberts, 1913,trawled recently north of Taiwan,
have been displayed by Chien Chih Chen of Kaohsiung. One specimen measures 53mm and the
other, 44mm.
The larger shell (left) is unusual in that the margins are brilliant purple. The fine spotting and the
dorsum blotch are purple and purple-brown,
rather than the usual tan as seen on the smaller
specimen.
ThereIStood...
by BESSIE G. GEOTHEL
SAN ANTONIO - "There I stood, with my
home burning down around me, and I couldn't
make up my mind which shell to grab before I
leaped from the window. Should it be the" . . .
$150 Volutoconus bednalli Brazier, 1879 or that
other expensive V olute,lredalina mirabilis Finlay,
1926, which has the RARE needle point protoconch?
Ha, yes, there's that beautiful GEM quality
Golden Cowrie, (Cypraea aurantium Gmelin,
1791)I waited so many years to get and which cost
$400. No.. No.. NO, that's just "bought
shells." The feelings I had that day in 1964can't
be bought!
It was my flTstfield trip with a group of wonderful, helpful people from the San Antonio Shell
Club. That day, I had learned:
How to find pectens (which as I later learned
were Atlantic Bay Scallop Argopecten i"adians
amplicostatusDall, 1898).I learned to feel around
with one foot in waist deep, murky water and,
after locating a bump, to plunge my arm and face
into the water and grab that mysterious bump to
obtain the pecten before it scooted away. (Gosh,
was I ever scared.)
How to sand-track, how to locate limpets on the
sea wall, and how everyone was talking about a
certainAmaea mitchelli and how hard it was to find
one. There we all stood, in a circle, drinking refreshments. I looked down and at my feet was the
most
beautjt:lJl
wentletrap
-
Amaea mitchelli
(Dall, 1896). I picked it up and let out a LOUD
WHOOP.
Yes.. Yes.. YES, that's the shell I'll take with
me when I jump out the window. Now, where in
the world did I put that little rascal?
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 12
The difficulty is compounded, they say, by the
tendency of different clubs to adopt subtly contradictory guidelines. How is the judge expected
to catch these nuances?
The unhappinessthat many judges feel over this
situation is pointed up by Margaret Teskey's announcement (HSN Oct. 1977)that she is giving up
judging until some uniformity can be achieved in
show criteria. We don't know the specifics of her
decision, but we can sympathize. Shell judging is
an onerous task, even when the committee does
its job well.
JOMAR ENTERPRISES
P.O. Box 2702, Napa, Calif. 94558
Free Price list upon request. Current listings
include Cypraea Valentia and record size Conus
Gloriamaris.
Length
75 .4mm,
width
27.2mm.
Paratype I: - Length 47mm, width 20.3mm.
Paratype 2: - Length 57mm, width 23.3mm.
"All type specimens are preserved in the
author's [Lan's] collection.
"Type locality: West ofTiao-yu-tai Isle, depth
about 96m to 120m; specimens collected by coral
boats."
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Supplier of:
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Galen Chi- Tsair Lyn
IReferences
Nov. 1975Lyria taiwanica Lan. Bulletin of th"
rhinese Malaco1ogica1Society 2 (1975).
'.-.
Dec. 1975Lyria kawamurai Habe. Bull. Natn
Mus. (N .S.) (A) 1 (4) pI 95 pl. 1 figs 1,2.
Aug. 1977 Elmer Leehman, Hawaiian Shell
" rnnfi,~;,.,n nf Vnh.te Nnmen
,News. "Prnhin~
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cl"ttlr"
P. O. Box 29-42 Kaohsiung 812. Taiwan
Phone 821-865
WHOLESALE
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Specialist in very rare species including
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Conus mi/needwsrdsi, etc
16 rue du Cherche Midi 75006
Tel.: 222 37 36
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Free list of available specimen shells on reQuest
Agents In Marseille. Paris. MartiniQue, Tahiti
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NEW 1976 PEIGNE DE VeNUS INTERNATIONAL COTATION CATALOG
The problem is real enough for a range of solutions to be proposed. These include: 1. Give up
shell shows. 2. Make shows noncompetitive. 3.
Get different judges. 4 "If you can't stand the
St.
--"
This particular problem could be eased considerably if show committees selected their judges
well in advance and briefed them fully. The committee chairman should make it his personal duty
to assurejudges of the utmost consideration in this
matter.
-
-
Judges have told us, also, that one of their basic
frustrations is indistinct rules set by inexperienced
shell show committees and often communicated
to the judges when there is little time for discussion and explanation.
Holotype:
~
"How can I reach a fair judgement in an hour
and a half?" the visitor asked. "I will need all
evening to do justice to these displays."
sharply plaited.
"Height of spire about ~ of total. Shell is
creamy color in general. Operculum unknown.
"Measurements of type specimens.
.
short span of time allotted for judging at a HMS
show.
-.
Occasionally, however, ajudge will rebel at the
conditions under which he must work. We recall a
protest - delivered quietly but firmly - over the
y
Nevertheless, we have never known a top-flight
judge who did not do his best to reach a fair decision.
Philippines. The type locality of L. taiwanica is
west ofTiao-yu-tai (off Taiwan) at a depth of96 to
120 meters. The type locality of the junior
synonym is nearby ("off Suo, Formosa"). It was
collected by fishing boats.
Lan's description of Lyria taiwanica follows:
"Shell fusiform, thick and heavy; apex sharply
pointed; with l~ whorls of protoconch and 7-8
whorls ofteleoconchs. There are 18-23fine parallel spiral lines of dark brownish color, and 3 interrupted bands of also dark brown color on the last
whorl. Twelve to 13axial ribs on the last whorl are
strong, wide and aligned in equal distance.
"The outer lip is dentated. Five to 6 columellar
plaits on the lower part are strong and 7 plaits on
the upper part are fine and weak. Aperture narrow, oblong and with whitish cream color inside; a
few brown lines on fasciole; siphonal notch
-
Inevitably, most have their favorites, very often
the family on which they have the greatest expertise. Dr. C. M. (Pat) Burgess, (still in demand as a
show judge even though he is able to accept few
invitations these days) is basically a cypraeaman,
for instance. Bill Old Jr. of New York is called
upon to judge many big shows where all genera are
on display, but he is a conus expert, first of all.
Even the "generalists" have their secret favorites.
PatronizeHSN Advertisers
NEW LYRIA (Cont'd from Page 1)
~
Judges are human, just like the rest of us. Nothing is gained by impugning their selections.
heat, stay out of the kitchen." Each of these has a
certain amount of virtue.
Perhaps, however, it is time for shell clubs to
work up a set of standard precepts for major
shows. Regardless of whether iron-bound rules or
merely a mutually agreed policy emerges, an intensive discussion of the problem would be a useful exercise (or all the clubs involved.
Who will take the lead in this project?
-
for its shell show judges, establishing the relative
values of scientific content, attractive presentation, novelty, etc., and explaining the basis for
special awards. Properly done, such a guide
makes the judge's decisions less chancy. But
much still dependsupon a particular judge's fancy
and what catches his eye. It is unlikely that ten
qualified judges, looking over a typical big show,
would come up with the same set of winners.
I
JUDGING (Cont'd from Page 1)
November, 1977
400
book
tittles.
Numerouscolored plates Exhaustive I;sts and cotatlons in US dollars
Over 5000
species.
REGIONAL LISTS for carribean
West coast
Of
Africa. Somalia. Reunion island. New Hebrides
province
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
November. 1977
Page 13
"Extinct" Distorsio
M()Nl'ILLA
ENTERPRISE
Spt'cimell Shells of the Philippines - Free
List - Shell & SeedNecklaces- Monkey Pod
& Wooden Ware - Black Coral Bracelets&
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Puka Shells.
39 Maria Clara, Quezon City 0-503
Philippines
~
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Wo..!d Wide and !<a..e S~I!!l
Photo: Salisbury
AGANA
specimens ofDistorsio pusilla Pease, 1861recently
have been found here on Guam. Their habitat beneath huge rocks - appearsto account both for
COME IN AND SEE US
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the varix, siphonalfasciolewhite."
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an
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ak
WEST COAST CURIOS,CO:
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"13 miles south of Disneyland". Longest established shell dealer in the U.S.A. More than
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No
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SEA ATLANTA
Lenox Square
Atlanta, Georgia30326
t
is now in Georgia!
Sendyour want list
whorl with a dark brown band; teleoconch of 4~
whorls with seven varices, varices very weak on
spire whorls and visible only under magnification.
Sculptured with about fifteen axial ribs and four
nodulose cords on the penultimate and twelve ribs
and seven spiral cords on the body whorl with five
additional cords on the siphonal fasciole; the
moderately deep interspaces are finely cancellate.
Outer lip with seven prominent denticles only
fractionally smaller columella with four denti'
cles, columellar callus narrow and confined to the
aperture. Golden-fawn in color, ornamented with
re
aeaaReI/ ~aradi8e
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rown
Source for Commercial Shells and Wooden
Snake-Standsfrom India.
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WEST AFRICAN SHELLS
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MONTE ESTORIL-PORTUGAL
West African Conus is our specialty;
More than 20 Speciesavailable!
- FREE LIST ON REQUEST-
the species' scarcity and for its survival.
HMS member Leo Kempczenski is among local
divers who have brought up specimens. I found
three of these tiny Distorsio also during my previous tour on this island.
A very fresh dead specimen of D. pusilla was
taken by dredging off Keehi Lagoon (Honolulu) in
coral and rock rubble. This shell also is known
from Japan.
Writing in the Record of the Auckland Institute
and Museum (12; 213-234 Dec. 17, 1975) HSN
Science Consultant Walter O. Cernohorsky described D. pusilla as follows:
"Shell small, 8-l0mm in length, protoconch
consisting of 2~ to three smooth, glassy, ambercolor embryonic whorls, penultimate embryonic
th
Full set of Shell & Book Catalogs
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by LYMAN RIGA
Barbara Pescatore tells me she found a live
StrombushawaiensisPilsbry in a small sand pocket at forty-five feet, off Makaha in Leeward
Oahu (Honolulu). Usually regarded as a subspecies of Strombus vomer Roding, 1798, S.
hawaiensis is not at all common. Divers occasionally find a specimen in coarse sand or coral
rubble at depths from fifty to 100feet or more. A
live-taken specimen is rare.
*
*
*
Early in October, Andy Butler and John McFarland took some Mainland visitors diving in
Maunalua Bay, Honolulu from Andy's boat
Strombus. As souvenirs of Hawaii, they brought
up some coral, which Andy volunteered to bleach
for them. Later, he discovered a small, unfamiliar
cowry on the towel. It turned out to be Cypraea
hirundo
Linne,
1758
-
a southerly
Indo-Pacific
species that has not been found in Hawaii before,
as far as I know. It was crabbed, but very fresh.
*
*
*
Speaking of unexpected finds, Dr. Tom Richert
believes he has a Conus capitaneus Linne, 1758
from Kaneohe Bay, Windward Oahu. The species
is virtually unknown in Hawaii.
*
*
*
On a snorkeling effort during the last days of no
surf along Oahu's frequently boisterous North
Shore, Olive Schoenberg brought up two of
Hawaii's elusive "black olives." Actually, they
are very dark specimens of Oliva paxillus Reeve,
1850 forma sandwichiensisPease, 1860. Not unknown, but distinctly rare.
*
*
*
A messagefrom Houston reports that tropical
storm .. Anita" blew some good to the Texas
coast. Bill Keeler reported finding Murex fulvescenson the beach afterwards; the Herschel Sands
found more than 200 Dosinia and Atrina at Matagorda; and sand dollars (prized locally) could be
scooped up by the handsful in shallow water.
*
*
*
A group of younger members of the Society,
including Gary Nunn, Chris Takahashi, Kevin
Einmo and Joey Phillips, stumbled on a nest of
Conus nussatellaLinne, 1758while snorkelling on
Fort Kam reef at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. A
remarkable find. In a series of visits to the area
they brought back Cypraearashleighana,C. semiplota, C. chinensis, C. sulcidentata,aC. gaskoini, a
large C. granulata, two C. lynx, Umbraculum
sinicum (Gmelin), Cymatium aquatile, C. vespaceum, and a four-inch Conuslividus, which must be
close to a world record.
*
*
*
At a recent HMS meeting, Wes Thorsson was
displaying two-beautiful live-taken Cypraea cerRica Sowerby, 1870- from the North Shore of
Oahu, I believe. As you may recall, Wes doesn't
exactly exude information on where he makes his
big hauls.
November, 1977
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 14
Caribbean Wanderer
A Range Extensic )n of Bursa pacamoni
by DANKER
CURACAO
Mansalifta,
drifted
into
-
While
VINK
snorkeling
near Playa
Curacao on the first of April
a dense
forest
1973 I
of elkhorn
(Acropora palmata), It was difficult
coral
to swim as the
branches reached close to the surface of the water.
While I tried to find my way out of the reef I turned
a slab of broken coral. I then picked up from about
2m depth what I thought was a beautiful and rather
large (44mm) live Bursa thomae (Orbigny,
1842).
Strangely, the aperture of the fril1y shell was white
instead of the usual lavender, but I attributed
and other differences to the exceptional
this
size of the
specimen (normally B. thomae measures some
30mm).
I had already nearly forgotten about the find
when I recently acquired a specimen of Bursa
pacamoni Matthews & Coelho, 1971from Brazil.
The shell had been found in the digestive tract of a
toadfish (Amphichthys cryptocentrus), called
pacamon in northeastern Brazil. I immediately
recognized thi~ shell as being the same species as
my strange bursa from Playa Mansalifta on
Curacao. I searched for the original publication
mentioning Bursa pacamoni (ref. I) and verified
that my specimen conformed in all respects to the
description of this species and to the differential
criteria with B. thomae (below).
The almost closed posterior siphonal canal is
much longer than that of B. thomae. Because of
this the general outline of the shell is different,
with straight convergent lines rather than squarish
whorls. The nodulose cord on the periphery of
each whorl has four knobs between the varices
instead of three projections. The columella and
labial callus are milk white (as opposed to lavender
in fresh specimens of B. thomae). Bursa pacamoni
shows axially elongated nodules immediately
below the suture. This area is more plain in B.
thomae. The operculum of B. pacamoni has a subapical nucleus. In most B. thomae the nucleus is
well within the margin of the operculum.
I sent a picture of the Curacao shell to Henry
Ramos Matthews of the Universidade Federal do
Ceara at Fortaleza, Brazil. He confirmed that
without doubt the specimen is B. pacamoni.
"To the best of my knowledge," he wrote,
"there are no records of the occurrence of this
bursa outside Brazil. I believe your find deserves
publication."
I was quite surprised by the find of a Brazilian
shell on Curacao. Earlier I had found an empty
Olivancil/aria urceus (Roding, 1798)on a beach in
Venezuela, but this could have been brought
north by one of the many tankers in ballast from
the Santos area.
The exact nature otthe molluscan fauna of the
southern Caribbean is still poorly known. There is
little doubt, however, about the existence of three
well differentiated provinces, the" Brazilian", the
"West Indian" (the islands) and "Caribbean"
(east coast of Central America and north cost of
South America).
Recently Ed Petuch indicated that, besides
these provinces, localized pockets of endemism
exist along the northern coast of South America,
with a completely different fauna which he described as Proto-Caribbean (ref. 2). Would there
also be enclaves of one province within another
province? Would other "Brazilian" species occur
on Curacao?
One could, of course, mention the occurrence
of Cypraea surinamensis Perry, 1811 and Murex
spectrum Reeve, 1846 (ref. 3) but these are
Brazilian species which have also been found on
many other islands in the southern Caribbean. I
then remembered that my friend Anton Verhoeven had found a Calliostomabarbouri Clench &
Aguayo, 1946 at Piscadera baai, Curacao at a
depth of about eight meters. It differed clearly
from C. javanicum (Gmelin, 1791) in the color of
the umbilicus, which was orange instead of white.
The specimen was crabbed, but the shell was
fresh, without calcareous coating. The animal
must have lived near the same bay. Although the
holotype ofC. barbouri had been found on Cuba,
this species is actually endemic to the Brazilian
north coast.
It is true that the occurrence of a few "Brazilian" shells on Curacao does not make this island
a Brazilian enclave. In the light of the foregoing,
however, is it odd that Morum oniscus (Linne,
1767) from Curacao and Bonaire - which has
more prominent tubercles than usual and a purple-brown pari tal shield - shows some affinity
with Morum matthewsi Emerson, 1967?
References
I. Matthews, Henry Ramos & Dos Santos
Coelho, Arnaldo C. 1971 "Superfamilia Tonnacea do Brasil II Familia Bursidae: Bursa
(Bursa) pacomoni sp.n." Boletim do Museu Nacional, Zoologia no. 283, 18 de maio de 1971.
2. Petuch, EdwardJ. 1976"An Unusual Molluscan Assemblage from Venezuela" The Veliger,
vol. 18, no. 3, p. 322.
3. Van Pel, Peter 1975 "Notes on Murex (Chicoreus) argo", Hawaiian Shell News, vol. XXIII
no. 6 (new series no. 186) p. 9.
Photo: Pierson
Conus gauguini Richard & Salvat, 1973 is an extremely rare cone (HSNApr.1977) endemic to the
Marquesas in the South Pacific. Only five specimens are known. The shell figured here was the
first of these, collected in 1970.1n gem condition,
it measures81mm.1t is in the collection of Dr. and
Mrs. Robert Pierson of Noumea.
OBSERVATIONS
MARATHON
KEY
-
I have often wondered
why no sinistral specimens of Busycon
canaliculatum (Linne, 1758)have ever come to my
attention. Therefore, with my stereo microscope
and much patience I did a study of strings of
capsules of the egg cases of this mollusc. The
results were quite revealing.
The capsules numbered about seventy five per
string of egg cases.
No sinistral shells were found in the first fiftysix cases. (There were no shells at all in the first
four imperfect capsules formed.)
The greatest number of young in any single
capsule was forty three. The smallest number was
nineteen. The average number of young per capsule was twenty-nine.
An average string had 2,162 dextral shells, and
only six sinistral shells. The sinistrals were always
in the last 20 per cent of the capsules.
As enemies and unfavorable conditions kill off
most of the young, the probability of survival for
the "lefties" is almost nil.
RobertJ. L. Wagner
*
*
*
A brief note from Dr. Robert Pierson in
Noumea reports the establishment of the Association Conchyliologue de Nouvelle Caledonie.
G. P. Aillaud is the president. About 100 shell
fanciers have been enrolled.
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